Music can help reduce chronic pain: study
Listening to music helps in relieving persistent physical pain in four out of ten people, a new study has found. Out of the 1,500 people surveyed, 66 percent of the 16 to 24-year-olds said music has helped them to soothe pain, reported the Daily Mail Tuesday citing a study conducted by LloydsPharmacy. Among the various types of music, pop music was the most popular, helping 21 percent of people, followed by classical music at 17 percent and rock or indie music at 16 percent, the report said. Simon and Garfunkel’s song ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ helped most in reducing pain, which was followed by Robbie Williams’ ‘Angels’, Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Albatross’, Elton John’s ‘Candle In The Wind’ and ‘Easy’ by The Commodores, it added. “People in pain should try to find some activity to get fully engaged in,” the Daily Mail quoted David Bradshaw of the University of Utah Pain Management Centre as saying. “Listening to favourite music is excellent for that because it can involve both thoughts and feelings. No matter how anxious you may feel, if you can get absorbed in the music, this can help with your pain,” Bradshaw said. (IANS)
3 cups of coffee a day reduces liver cancer risk
A new study has revealed that coffee consumption can reduce the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which is the most common type of liver cancer, by about 40 percent. The research also indicated that three cups of coffee per day reduces liver cancer risk by more than 50 percent. Carlo La Vecchia, MD, study author from the department of epidemiology, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche “Mario Negri,” and department of clinical sciences and community health, Università degli Studi di Milan, Italy, said that the favourable effect of coffee on liver cancer might be mediated by coffee”s proven prevention of diabetes, a known risk factor for the disease, or for its beneficial effects on cirrhosis and liver enzymes. Researchers performed a meta-analysis of articles published from 1996 through September 2012, ultimately studying 16 high-quality studies and a total of 3,153 cases. La Vecchia said that it remains unclear whether coffee drinking has an additional role in liver cancer prevention, but, in any case, such a role would be limited as compared to what is achievable through the current measures. The study is published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. (ANI)
Daily dose of Vit D can help stave off diabetes
A daily dose of vitamin D can be used in the battle against Type 2 diabetes, experts have revealed.
Researchers are carrying out a major clinical trial to confirm whether taking vitamin D can prevent or delay the condition, the Daily Express reported. They believe that the “sunshine vitamin” may reduce diabetes risk by 25 per cent. The study led by Professor Philip Raskin, from UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, is a four-year trial across America which will track 2,500 people age 30 or older who have pre-diabetes. They will be given daily doses of vitamin D about five times higher than usually recommended. (ANI)
Vinyl floorings may cause developmental problems in kids
Large areas of vinyl flooring in daycares and schools seems to expose kids to a group of compounds called phthalates that have been linked to reproductive and developmental problems, according to scientists. Chungsik Yoon and colleagues note that polyvinyl chloride (PVC), also known as vinyl, is the second most-produced plastic by volume and is commonly used in flooring. Phthalates, which increase both the flexibility and durability of PVC, are key ingredients in PVC materials used in vinyl flooring and a wide range of other products, including toys, food packaging, medical devices, and even pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and soaps. Using a portable instrument called an X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzer, they tested the flooring materials in 50 public and private daycares and kindergartens in Seoul, South Korea, to test for PVC. They also collected dust samples from various surfaces in the buildings and analyzed them. The PVC-verified flooring was a major source of the most common phthalate that they detected, called di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (known as DEHP). (ANI)
Soon, eyes to be made immune from cataract before it strikes
Scientists have taken a step closer to prevent cataract from striking by finding out the activation mechanism of the protective protein that saves human eyes from falling prey to disease. The lens of the human eye is made up of a highly concentrated protein solution that imparts the eye its high refractive power. Yet, despite this high protein content the ocular lens must remain clear and transparent. To this end ocular lens cells have developed a remarkable strategy: They have thrown overboard the complex machinery present in all other cells of the human body for building up and breaking down proteins. Instead, lens proteins are created only once in a lifetime – during embryonic development. In 2009, Johannes Buchner, professor for biotechnology at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen collaborated with Sevil Weinkauf, professor for electron microscopy at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen, and helped the first part of the aB-crystallin puzzle fall into place. The team successfully deciphered the molecular structure of the most important form of this versatile protein – a molecule comprising 24 subunits. Under normal conditions, i.e. when the cell is not exposed to stress, this complex is the most common variant. (ANI)